Daily Reprieve

From Courage to Change of Oct 7:

I felt my life was on hold. I wanted change; I expected it; I even tried to make it happen. But it was not within my power to make any of the changes I wanted. I was frustrated. I’m an action-taker, so I feel better when I am busy and industrious. There is a time to act. But in Al-Anon I learned that there is also a time to not act — to stop and wait. As my Sponsor puts it, “Don’t just do something, sit there.” How often I still find myself impatient with the pace of life. But today, when things don’t happen according to my schedule, I can accept that there may be a reason, and I can learn to adjust to what is. I may be experiencing great change on the inside even though I see little evidence on the outside. I can keep in mind that waiting time doesn’t have to mean wasted time. Even times of stillness have lessons to teach me.

Today’s Reminder

The invitation to live life fully is offered to me each day. I can accept the pace of change today, knowing it will bring both times of active involvement and periods of quiet waiting. I will let the surprises of the day open up before me.

“Besides the noble art of getting things done; there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials.” ~ Lin Yutang

END OF QUOTE—————————————

NOTE:

Lin Yutang (1895 – 1976) was a Chinese scholar, writer, translator, and inventor whose life bridged the worlds of East and West with unusual humor and grace.

Intellectual & Literary Contributions

• Humanistic Bridge: Lin sought to reconcile Chinese philosophy—particularly Taoism and Confucianism—with Western rationalism and Christian thought.
• Major Works: His best-known books in English include My Country and My People (1935) and The Importance of Living (1937). Both helped Western readers appreciate Chinese culture not as exotic, but as profoundly human.
• Style: Lin’s prose was witty, relaxed, and conversational, often celebrating the art of idleness, simplicity, and joy in daily life—virtues he found in Taoist and Confucian traditions.

Cultural & Linguistic Influence

• Language Innovator: He designed a Chinese typewriter and an early Chinese word processor, motivated by his fascination with the written word and cross-cultural communication.
• Translator & Mediator: Lin translated works of Chinese literature into English and vice versa, introducing Western readers to classical Chinese poets and philosophers.

Philosophy & Personality

Lin advocated what he called “the wisdom of the East with the comfort of the West.” He resisted both political dogma and missionary rigidity, emphasizing individual freedom, humor, and compassion. He once quipped that the ideal person is “half saint, half rascal.”

The Civil War (1927–1949)

• The war was fought between the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang, or KMT) led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led by Mao Zedong.
• It began intermittently in the late 1920s, paused during the Japanese invasion (1937–1945), and resumed in full force after World War II.

The Final Conquest (1948–1949)

• The Communists gained momentum in 1948, winning decisive battles such as Huaihai, Liaoshen, and Pingjin.
• By October 1, 1949, Mao Zedong stood atop Tiananmen Gate in Beijing and proclaimed the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
• The Nationalists retreated to Taiwan, where they maintained the Republic of China (ROC) government.

Aftermath

• Mainland China came under Communist control, marking the end of centuries of dynastic and nationalist rule. Communism, as a Western brainchild, squashed, once more, the Chinese cultural empire.
• Taiwan, under Chiang Kai-shek, remained outside Communist control and became a separate political entity — a division that persists to this day.

Early Japanese Encroachments (1931–1936)

• 1931 – Invasion of Manchuria:
  Japan staged the Mukden Incident as a pretext to seize Manchuria, creating the puppet state of Manchukuo under the deposed Qing emperor Puyi.
• 1933 – Great Wall Battles:
  Japan extended its control to Jehol and parts of northern China.
• 1935–1936 – Northern China Buffer Zones:
  Japan pressured the Chinese Nationalist government into demilitarizing several northern provinces, effectively turning them into Japanese spheres of influence.

---

Full-Scale War with Japan (1937–1945)

• July 7, 1937 – Marco Polo Bridge Incident:
  A skirmish near Beijing spiraled into a full invasion.
• 1937–1938 – Rapid Conquest:
  Japan captured major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing.
  • The Nanjing Massacre (Dec 1937 – early 1938) saw mass killings and atrocities that remain one of the darkest chapters in modern history.
• 1938–1940 – Occupation and Resistance:
  Japan controlled most coastal and eastern China, but Chinese Nationalist and Communist forces continued guerrilla resistance inland.
• 1941–1945 – Integration into World War II:
  After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, the Sino-Japanese conflict became part of the wider Pacific War.
  The U.S., Britain, and others began supporting Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist government.
• 1945 – Defeat of Japan:
  Japan’s surrender in August 1945 ended its occupation of China.

---

Aftermath

• The war left 20 to 25 million Chinese dead, cities destroyed, and China internally divided.
• The temporary alliance between the Nationalists and Communists collapsed soon after the Japanese defeat, reigniting the Chinese Civil War, which the Communists ultimately won in 1949.

After the Communist takeover of China in 1949, Lin Yutang—like many intellectuals who valued freedom of expression—did not remain under Communist rule. His postwar life reflected his lifelong balancing act between East and West. Here’s the sequence:

---

Hong Kong (Late 1940s – Early 1950s)

When the Communists seized mainland China, Lin moved to Hong Kong, then still under British rule.

• There he resumed writing in both English and Chinese, publishing essays critical of totalitarianism and advocating personal liberty.
• His skepticism toward ideological rigidity—both Communist and Western—kept him at odds with dominant political movements.

---

United States (1950s–1960s)

Lin spent significant time in the United States, teaching, lecturing, and writing.

• He was already well known in the U.S. because of his prewar bestsellers My Country and My People and The Importance of Living.
• He became a U.S. citizen in 1948, just before the Communist victory in China.
• He lived primarily in New York, where he continued to write in English and remain an informal cultural ambassador for Chinese humanism.

---

Taiwan (1960s–1976)

In the 1960s, Lin accepted invitations from Chiang Kai-shek’s Republic of China government to work and live in Taiwan.

• He founded the Chinese Cultural Renaissance Movement, seeking to preserve traditional Chinese culture in the face of the Communist “Cultural Revolution” on the mainland.
• He established his residence in Yangmingshan, near Taipei—a quiet, mountainous area. His home there is now the Lin Yutang House Museum.

---

Death and Legacy

• Lin Yutang died in 1976 in Hong Kong, the same year Mao Zedong died on the mainland.
• His life came full circle between cultures and ideologies, remaining loyal to neither nationalism nor communism, but to a deeply humane philosophy that saw freedom, humor, and compassion as the essence of civilization.

END OF NOTE—————————————

There was a season when waiting felt like punishment — a holding pattern before real life resumed. I mistook stillness for failure. In those times, I would pace the cage of my own impatience, confusing motion with meaning. Al-Anon has shown me a gentler rhythm: the truth that spiritual change germinates in the soil of surrender.

When I stop forcing outcomes, I start hearing the subtle movements within me. The Spirit does not rush to satisfy my calendar. It ripens me. While my eyes search for proof of progress, my roots may be deepening unseen. I learn, over and over, that waiting is not wasted — it is womb time.

To live fully means to embrace both the seed and the sprout, both the silence and the song. There are days for decisive action, and days when the only act is to breathe and trust the unseen choreography of grace.

Today I will let the day unfold at its own pace. I will release the tyranny of my timetable and let life reveal its timing — not mine.